Kylian Mbappé was belatedly presented with the 2024–25 European Golden Shoe after finishing last season as the continent’s top league scorer. The Real Madrid forward netted 31 LaLiga goals to claim the trophy — joining club legends such as Hugo Sánchez and Cristiano Ronaldo on Real Madrid’s roll call of winners — and added his prize to a long list of historic recipients that includes Eusébio, Gerd Müller, Marco van Basten, Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane.
But the early pace for the 2025–26 European Golden Shoe is being set by a relative unknown. Darko Lemajic, a 32-year-old Serbian striker playing for Rigas Futbola Skola (RFS) in Latvia, tops the leaderboard after scoring 28 league goals in the Latvian Virsliga. Because the Virsliga runs a March–November schedule, Lemajic has already had 35 games this season to build his tally and still has one league fixture left.
How the Golden Shoe is calculated
Since 1997 the award has used a points system that weights goals according to the strength of the league, based on UEFA coefficients. Goals in the top five leagues are multiplied by 2, leagues ranked 6–22 by 1.5, and leagues below 22 by 1. So Lemajic’s 28 Virsliga goals are worth 28 points (28 x 1). By contrast, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland — who each have 13 league goals this season — sit on 26 points apiece because their goals in top-five leagues are multiplied by two.
That weighting helps explain why scorers from Scandinavia and other summer-schedule leagues frequently populate the early top-10: their seasons have often finished or are close to finishing before the big European leagues have played many fixtures.
Lemajic profile
At 6ft 6in, Lemajic is an imposing presence who has thrived in Latvia. He’s in his second spell with RFS after a stint in Belgium with KAA Gent and finished 2025 as RFS’s leading marksman as the club placed runners-up to Riga FC. His 28 goals were double the total of the league’s second-highest scorer, Ingars Pulis (16).
The top 10 (current standings)
1) Darko Lemajic — Rigas Futbola Skola: 28 goals, 28 points
Lemajic leads the standings thanks to a heavy goal haul in the Latvian summer league and still has one domestic game remaining.
2) Erling Haaland — Manchester City: 13 goals, 26 points
Haaland remains a constant threat at the top level; goals in the Premier League carry a 2x multiplier for the Golden Shoe tally.
3) Kylian Mbappé — Real Madrid: 13 goals, 26 points
Mbappé is defending his recent individual success, sitting atop the LaLiga scoring chart as he chases another big-season total.
4) Klaemint Olsen — NSÍ Runavík (Faroe Islands): 26 goals, 26 points
Olsen enjoyed a huge scoring season in the Faroe Islands Premier League, giving him a strong points total despite the league’s lower coefficient.
5) Daniel Karlsbakk — Sarpsborg FK (Norway): 17 goals, 25.5 points
Karlsbakk is one of several Eliteserien scorers who benefit from the 1.5 multiplier for leagues ranked 6–22.
6) Kasper Høgh — Bodø/Glimt (Norway): 17 goals, 25.5 points
Høgh has been central to Bodø/Glimt’s season and is joint-top in the Norwegian scoring charts.
7) August Priske — Djurgården (Sweden): 17 goals, 25.5 points
The Denmark under-20 international was one of the leading scorers in the Allsvenskan.
8) Ibrahim Diabaté — GAIS (Sweden): 17 goals, 25.5 points
Diabaté finished among the Allsvenskan’s top scorers as GAIS secured a high league placing.
9) Nahir Besara — Hammarby IF (Sweden): 17 goals, 25.5 points
Besara was one of three players tied atop the Allsvenskan goal charts as Hammarby closed their season.
10) Harry Kane — Bayern Munich: 12 goals, 24 points
Kane continues his fine domestic form in the Bundesliga and is expected to climb the Golden Shoe table as the season progresses.
What to watch
Lemajic’s lead is real but fragile: the points weighting means a burst of goals from a top-five-league striker can quickly flip the standings. Many of the contenders in major leagues (LaLiga, Premier League, Bundesliga) have only played a fraction of their seasons so far, so the leaderboard will evolve rapidly once autumn and winter fixtures pile up.
If Lemajic adds to his total in his final Latvian game he will strengthen his position, but the long-term favourites remain the prolific scorers in Europe’s biggest leagues, where each goal is worth double. The Golden Shoe race often hinges on form across many months, so early-season leaders from summer competitions frequently face a late charge from stars in the continent’s top divisions.